title: Experimental infection parameters in Galea spixii (Rodentia: Caviidae) with Leishmania infantum chagasi.
abstract: In order to better understand the epidemiological transmission network of leishmaniasis, an endemic disease in Northeast Brazil, we investigated the susceptibility of Spix yellow-toothed cavies (Galea spixii) to the Leishmania infantum chagasi parasite. Nine cavies were experimentally infected, separated into three groups and monitored at 30, 90 and 180 days, respectively. Amastigotes were identified in the spleen slides of two cavies killed 180 days after infection. Antibodies against the L. i. chagasi were identified in one of the cavies. This demonstrates that G. spixii is in fact capable of maintaining a stable infection by L. i. chagasi without alterations in biochemical and hematological parameters of the host and without perceivable micro and macroscopic lesions.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brasil.
authors.forename: Patrícia Batista Barra Medeiros
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Paula Viviane Sousa
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: de Queiroz
authors.forename: Selma Maria B
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jerônimo
authors.forename: Maria de Fátima Freire de Melo
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: Ximenes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000097:blood / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012377:Rodentia; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan